Double Pricing

[GuestHouse]

Many, if not all of us moan about double pricing, it is a common topic in letters to the press and on any Thailand discussion board, yet nobody ever suggests doing anything about it.

How about setting up a register of places that operate double pricing policies, and those that don't. The next step is to let those charging double prices know that we are recommending foreigners, those living here and visitors, withold their business from the double pricing establishments.

What do you say? With the backing of the expat clubs around Thailand it could work.

[JaroenVan]

Well, good idea.

I suggest opening a fully-fledged, database-driven website.

Could assist in technical matters, like PHP scripting/MySQL database etc.

Jaroen Van

[GuestHouse]

That is precisely the kind of thing I was thinking, get a webpage up and invite people to add the names of businesses that are double pricing. Perhaps three reports being sufficient to put their names on the list of shame.

I'd certainly be willing to pay for the web space.

[wolf5370]

...and pay the law suits?

[Bluecat]

Double pricing is very common in this world, the citizen of the country usually get lower prices than the foreigners (and this is valid in many western countries also,...)

Why are there some many people moaning about it in Thailand?

Because, in Thailand, a lot if not all farang feel cheated in one way or another by the Thai people and the double pricing is just the catalyst of those emotions,...

[penelope]

I've been here 11 years, and I am not bothered by it.

Basically if I want admission to some place, and it is still cheap (relative to what I consdier cheap), then I couldn't give a rats ass if it is double,triple or quadruple pricing. I would much rather gain swift entry than stand at the gates debating the ethics of pricing structure with someone who, no matter how robust you argument is ,can only retort with "mai dai".

[Guest chingy]

Double pricing is normal in every country. try go to hawaii (Hanauma Bay) they will charge you a price for using the beach if you are not a local, local are free of charge

[samran]

Some EU countries are pretty bad too.

From my experience, EU citizens pay nothing or very little in many museums and gallaries in places like Spain and Italy, non EU people pay through the nose.

[Guest The Judge]

That saves worrying whether the punters will appreciate the art.

Double pricing is everywhere. A Thai man asked me to do a specific job for him, after doing the same job for another client 3 weeks earlier.

I told him the price was 950 baht per hour. He said but you did it for the farang for 450 per hour.

I said "Yes", ....

He has decided to use a Thai acquaintance who has a 2 month holiday coming up.

[cdnvic]

It's normal, especially in tourist areas all over the world to have "local prices".

As for others, like shopkeepers, taxis, etc the best way to beat overcharging is to walk away. I don't mind paying 110B for a shirt the locals may pay 95B for becaause the 15B isn't worth the stress, and I look at it as them giving someone with limited means a break rather than ripping me off.

Anyone whose been here a month should have a clue what things are worth. So if a greedy cabbie, guesthouse owner, market stall owner, etc, quotes you an outrageous price just walk away. Don't bargin, son't bitch, just walk away. If everyone did that there would be alot less problems with ripoffs.

When I first moved up to Chang Mai my wife and I went to a market down the street for dinner. The woman at one food stall thought she'd double her price since her uninformed mind assumed I was rich and stupid. The lady at the next stall was friendly and honest so we've eaten there about 300 times in the last year or so, always sitting at the table close to the woman who tried to rip us off.

When she asked one night why we never try her food we bluntly told her that we don't spend any money on people who are dishonest. She didn't like it, but too bad. Maybe she'll think twice the next time. (Probably not )

cv

[markt]

She didn't like it, but too bad. Maybe she'll think twice the next time. (Probably not )

cv

She'll think twice. How very droll.

This happened to me recently in Ptty. There were two BBQ stools in a row down one soi. I went up to one and made my choices. Then when she charged me i asked how much it cost per stick. Twenty baht she said. OK i paid and said nothing, knowing that it is usually ten baht per stick.

I was staying just up the soi from those stools. The next night i bought some BBQ from the man next to her. He charged ten baht per stick, as is the norm for ptty.

Each night i would go to his stool to buy, spending about 100+ baht a time.

That could have been her custom if she didn't overcharge me.

[sbk]

Actually, the double pricing mentioned in Europe and the US is usually in regards to using taxpayer funded places, either national parks or museums. Either you are a resident taxpayer and thus are already funding these places or you aren't and therefore need to pay for your share of the usage.

[ovenman]

Double pricing is normal in every country. try go to hawaii (Hanauma Bay) they will charge you a price for using the beach if you are not a local, local are free of charge

Hanauma Bay is a state park. The taxpayer-funding offset scheme mentioned by sbk applies to this example.

A better example in Hawaii is the "kama'aina discount" that locals receive from various businesses when they flash a Hawaiian ID such as a driver's license. As far as I'm concerned, this isn't any different than a Thai business such as a hotel charging a Thai one price and a farang another price.

[Guest chingy]

you are absolutely right ovenman "kama'aina discount"

"hey bu where u stay"

[Guest IT Manager]

Actually, the double pricing mentioned in Europe and the US is usually in regards to using taxpayer funded places, either national parks or museums. Either you are a resident taxpayer and thus are already funding these places or you aren't and therefore need to pay for your share of the usage.

I can relate to taxpayer funded areas, except for the fact that I pay more tax then most of Thai people I know.

I don't complain too much buit I don't go to National Parks now as often as I used to.

[GuestHouse]

I've had a good think about this and I've decided to go ahead and set up a web page, I'll update you when that is available.

Law suits- The web page will be off shore and will in anycase only report prices.

As for this happens around the world, yes it does, but I'm not around the world, I'm in Thailand and I object to paying over the odds.

It's simple ecconomics, the market will charge what the market can get, but if there is a feedback that allows people to make a choice and gives them the information, then the same market forces will move business to those who are providing the quality and price.

If a hotel gets a letter informing them that they are on the 'Uggly List' it might just sway their marketting.

If people have the information and can choose cheaper or farer priced hotels then that will provide extra encouragement to implement a one price policy

[ovenman]

I don't complain too much buit I don't go to National Parks now as often as I used to. 

I'd love to know what's happened to Thailand's national park attendance by foreigners since the huge entrance fee increase several years ago. I would imagine that the steep rise hasn't affected admissions at the "biggies" like Wat Pra Kaew but the minor national parks, like the odd waterfall here and there, must see very few farang these days.

[Estrella]

Once I was a representative from my office ( Government agent related to Touristism but not TAT) in the sub- meeting for APEC ( Implidiment on tourism or something .. cannot remember the full name of such a conference ), I mentioned about double pricing for farangs. I was the only one who voted for the same price either Thai or Farang, all the rest voted for double price!

Why? They said that its because those are our national resources, it should be free for Thai or low cost and we should charge farang more like when they charge us more in their countires!

In museum world today, more and more museums are no admission, especially in UK, British museum, Tate Galleries, V&A and etc. In USA, Getty centre started this fee museum phenomenon and it works just fine. Those arts and antiquities are a part of civilization in humanity. We as equal human being should have an equal oppotunity to appreciate them.

What a nice philosophy! I love that.

[taxexile]

i believe the double pricing system is just a sleazy way to increase the revenue from foriegners and should be stopped.

if "rich" tourists should pay according to their means then so should rich thais.

the underhand way in which notices informing the public of the double pricing are written (thai script and numerals) is designed to deceive foriegners not inform them,and confirms to me the sleazy nature of the practice.

if the authorities really believed that there was a more valid reason behind the system than greed then they should be honest with the signage and explain why foriegners are being charged more, as is done in other countries.

i support guesthouses call for a website to publicise this absolute rip off.

i like the national parks in this country, but since the massive price increase a couple of years ago i rarely enter unless i can obtain entry at the regular price.

its a point of principle. 200 baht as against 20 baht..... no thanks.

a thai driving licence, a friendly discussion with the ticket seller about the rights and wrongs of the practice and inquiring if the government have increased his/her salary much over the past couple of years will do the trick 7 times out of 10.

[Thailand]

We will be staying at a Jomtien Hotel in the near future.

My friends wife's niece is coming with us, she is Thai.

The booking was made over the internet, the niece is being charged 300 baht extra a night because she is Thai- the travel agent asked her nationality before they confirmed the higher price, because she is Thai.

Something of a reverse?

[Guest IT Manager]

I would love to know why?

[JaroenVan]

i support guesthouses call for a website to publicise this absolute rip off.

i like the national parks in this country, but since the massive price increase a couple of years ago i rarely enter unless i can obtain entry at the regular price.

its a point of principle. 200 baht as against 20 baht..... no thanks.

Just BOYCOTT - and make sure to let them know!

Maybe in this way:

http://www.geocities.com/donutlink/boycott/

JaroenVan

[dr_Pat_Pong]

We will be staying at a Jomtien Hotel in the near future.

My friends wife's niece is coming with us, she is Thai.

The booking was made over the internet, the niece is being charged 300 baht extra a night because she is Thai- the travel agent asked her nationality before they confirmed the higher price, because she is Thai.

Something of a reverse?

and discriminatory. Why not phone the TAT and ask for an explanation.

[huski]

I suggest opening a fully-fledged, database-driven website.

Could assist in technical matters, like PHP scripting/MySQL database etc.

why drag SQL into this, look at it the other way around and list the ones that DON'T double price, which are only a few.

[GuestHouse]

The national parks are of course one of the more blatant rip-offs, but more than that they proclain to every Thai passing through their gates "It's OK to rip-off foreigners"

That said, the national parks are controlled from central government, they are not in competition with each other, hotels are.

What is even more annoying is the fact that most of the larger hotels are actually foreign owned, so the proffits of their racist pricing policies are going overseas.

I'm up for this now and I'm going to spend the next week or so looking into how I can set a website up that lists, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The point is, it's your money in your pocket and you can't boycott businesses unless you know who to boycott, or as one respondant rightly said, you can't give your business to the good guys if you don't know who the good guys are.

[lamphun]

I've been told, though it may be wrong that if you buy one national park ticket, you can use it all day for entering other sites.

The classic double price is the Tiger Park at Sri Racha. It has one price written in Thai and another in english. Of course when I presented the lower price for a joke they were unimpressed. It's still a good show and worth the extra money so not a problem.

How about the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon. 10 years ago it had a sign up saying tourist ten dollars (?). When I presented the equivalent in Burmese Chat at the official exchange rate there was consternation, this was actualluy worth about 50 cents in the real world.

[bmanly]

I hate the double pricing system but I rarely get caught by it now as I would rather go without than pay double. One day my Thai wife and I walked all around Pattaya looking for a barber who would cut my hair for the same price as a Thai. 80% of them were going to charge double, we simply walked in and my wife said how much to cut my husbands hair. Thais do not have good business sense, one barber shop had 3 barbers sitting there waiting for customers and on hearing the double price I just walked out. They would rather sit there making nothing rather than charge me 60 baht like a Thai guy would get charged. It just doesn't make sense. Now I found a barber who always charges 60 baht for farang and Thai and I go there every 3 weeks. This barber is located on Soi Buakaow, go down the soi at the kiss restaurant from 2nd. road all the way to the end and turn right into Soi Buakaow and it is about the 3rd shop on the right, great people!

As for National parks well I don't go there anymore. My missus and I were on Koh Chang and we did not go to see the waterfall as I knew I would be charged 200 baht. We are not rich people and what really irks me is that we both travel on an Aussie passport, she pays 30 baht and I have to pay 200, to me it is unfair. I wouldn't mind so much if the rich Thais who pull up in BMW's or Mercedes paid their fair share, those people would be much more wealthier than us!

[markt]

Regarding haircuts.

My wife has a friend who has a shop down one of the sois at Jomtien. She has known this girl for a good number of years. She is doing OK and is married to a policeman.

On every visit we always go and see her. Sitting in the shop chatting and eating i thought that i would ask her for a haircut. The handwritten sign stuck to the wall reads....Thai 60 B, farang 100 B. Surely as a friend she would charge me the Thai price?

No, she charged me the 100 B farang price.

Let me say again, we've known her for about 10 years yet she still sees me as a farang, not friend.

And she made a bleedin' mess of it too!

[Zendesigner]

just do like i did today and have done a few times already.

Drive up to the gate of the national park... ask how much.... for my thai wife = 20

for you 200.

You look at hem if they are gansters , and (fake smilingly) ask. You have good business farang lately.

Put the car in reverse and turn back.

I 500 tourists do that every month they'll change the price one day..

BTW the waterfall is mostky reachable from another road also , just ask the locals.

not that they are so great anyway

B

[Guest IT Manager]

Barber in my village charges me 40 baht. My Akha son 40 baht. My Thai son 40 baht. He does the monk for free.